Staten Island St. Patrick's Parade is planning on a few new additions

AWE file photoThe 45th edition of the Staten Island St. Patrick's Parade steps off March 8 at 12:30 p.m. from the corner of Forest Avenue and Hart Boulevard in West Brighton.

Woodland fairies fluttering. Flautists pedaling unicycles. And a jug band making, err, jug music. Just what kind of affair will the 45th edition of the Staten Island St. Patrick's Parade be?

Oh, everything Islanders know and love -- with a few new additions.

As tradition dictates, the parade steps off March 8 at 12:30 p.m. from the corner of Forest Avenue and Hart Boulevard in West Brighton, and ends at Crystal Avenue.

Courtesy of Vivia VassarStaten Island Collaboration (SIcoLab) and member Frank Williams, pictured, are working on a float filled with Celtic gods and twig-adorned fairies for the parade.

Leading the way will be grand marshal Michael Ducey of Westerleigh, a longtimer with the Ancient Order of Hibernians, whose members make up Richmond County St. Patrick's Parade Committee. He'll join the usual array of marching bands, bagpipers, step-dancers, string bands in feathered head dresses (aka mummers), veterans and church groups as well as Girl and Boy Scouts.

Plus, the Cambridge, Mass.-based Cycling Murrays will play their fifes, aka Irish flutes, while riding antique bicycles -- unicycles and other Dr. Seuess-esque creations -- marking at least their third appearance in the parade.

The Wahoo Skiffle Crazies, the borough's "premier jug band," hopes to return to the festivities, too.

But the most unusual sightings in the sea of green could very well be the float filled with Celtic gods and twig-adorned fairies and nymphs. It's a project by Staten Island Collaboration (SICoLab.org), a growing network of S.I. artists and entertainers.

"We're celebrating Irish myths and lore because it's not really part of the parade, but it's so much a part of Irish history," says SICoLab co-founder Laura Bruij Williams, 28, of Port Richmond Center. Expect performers garbed in nature-inspired green, brown and red costumes, plus a hooved creature or two.

Parade chairman Charles (Chip) McLean says while the Hibernians cherish the reliable returnees, they also welcome newcomers with fresh ideas: "That's how the parade has grown over the last 45 years."